DHAKA — Bangladesh’s electricity and gas crisis cannot be resolved within six months or even one year and will require at least two years for a meaningful solution, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said.
He made the remarks on Sunday while speaking as chief guest at an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) at the InterContinental Dhaka.
Referring to the energy crisis, Khosru said businesses and consumers were facing serious difficulties because of shortages in both electricity and gas.
“Everyone has spoken about electricity and gas. We are facing a kind of crisis,” he said.
The finance minister cautioned against expecting a quick solution.
“Unfortunately, nothing in electricity and gas can be resolved within six months. A solution is not possible even within one year. It will take at least two years — at the minimum. We are fighting this electricity and gas problem,” he said.
Khosru said the government was trying to move as quickly as possible to address the situation and insisted that no time was being wasted.
“I can assure you that we are trying to do everything in the shortest possible time. We are not wasting a moment,” he said.
He indicated that several measures related to gas infrastructure were being finalized, including floating LNG facilities and onshore storage arrangements.
“In gas, floating LNG terminals, onshore storage facilities — all these issues are being finalized. You will learn about them within the next few days,” Khosru said.
The finance minister also said the government was working on a broader energy strategy that would combine different sources of power generation.
He referred to renewable energy, gas-based electricity and coal as elements of the future energy mix.
“We will have renewable energy, we will have gas-based electricity,” Khosru said. “Coal is a resource that we have, and we are looking at the coal-based option as well. We are moving toward an integrated energy mix, and that mix has more or less been determined.”
According to Khosru, the government expects the electricity and gas sectors to undergo significant changes once the planned measures are implemented.
COMMENTS